The Solaris 2.4 Release

Table 2-1 lists the features enhanced in Solaris 2.4.

Table 2-1

Solaris 2.4 Features	Description
XIL1.2 Imaging Library Runtime Environment	A foundation imaging library, suitable for libraries or applications requiring imaging or digital video, such as document imaging, color prepress, or digital video generation and playback.
SolarisPEX 2.2 Runtime Environment	An application programmer interface (API) that provides application portability across platforms and 3-D graphics rendering on local and remote displays.
XGL 3.1 Runtime Environment	A 2-D and 3-D immediate-mode application programmer interface (API) that provides portability across hardware platforms and optimal performance from graphics acceleration.

Table 2-1

Solaris 2.4 Features	Description
Direct Xlib 3.1	A graphics application that uses the new DGA Drawable Interface and supports systems with multiple frame buffers. It provides modified versions of the standard X11 libraries to accelerate Xlib rendering performance.
Expanded localization (OpenWindows 3.4)	The operating system is now available for desktop and workgroup server product configurations in four European languages and four Asian languages, as well as Latin American Spanish and U.S. English.
ImageTool enhancements	Functionality enhanced so the user can read Kodak images from a PhotoCDTM disc using Image Tool.
Enhanced hardware support	A wider range of new hardware configurations are supported: refer to SPARC Hardware Compatibility List or Solaris 2.4 x86 Hardware Compatibility List for specific details.

The Solaris 2.3 Release

Table 2-2 lists the features that were added in the Solaris 2.3 release.

Table 2-2

Solaris 2.3 Features	Description
Direct Xlib 3.0	The first release of Direct Xlib that utilized MIT DDX (device-dependent X) loadable modules to perform X11 graphics rendering.
Serial Port Manager	A tool that enables you to quickly setup and modify serial port software for terminals and modems.
Autofs	A new kernel virtual file system that supports automatic mounting of file systems.
PPP	An asynchronous implementation of the standard data link level Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) included in the Internet protocol suite that enables communications links using modems and telephone lines.

Table 2-2

Solaris 2.3 Features	Description
Cache File System (CacheFS)	A nonvolatile caching mechanism to improve performance of certain file systems by utilizing a small, fast, local disk.
NIS+	Three additional scripts to enable you to more easily set up an NIS+ domain.
SolarisPEX Runtime Environment (RTE)	An implementation of the MIT PEX specification that is an extension to the X Window System to support 3D graphics.

The Solaris 2.2 Release

Table 2-3 lists the features that were added in the Solaris 2.2 release.

Table 2-3

Solaris 2.2 Features	Description
XIL 1.0 Imaging Library Runtime Environment	Imaging library runtime environment to use with imaging and video applications developed with the XIL 1.0 Imaging Library Software Developer's kit.
Direct Xlib 2.0	The first release of Direct Xlib available for Solaris 2.x.
Volume Management	Software that automatically mounts and unmounts CDs and diskettes.
Multithreaded Library Interface	An interface that allows developers access to MIT applications.
User Installation Interfaces	User interfaces that make it easy to install and upgrade Solaris.
AnswerBook Improvements	New AnswerBook administrator's utility, ab_admin(1), and Library-based user interface that allows easy access to AnswerBook sets located over networks.
Enhanced OpenWindows	OpenWindows enhancements include Image Tool, an improved Properties Tool, integrated international capabilities, and many ease-of-use improvements.

XIL 1.2 Runtime Environment

The XIL 1.2 Runtime Environment is automatically installed if you select either of the following software groups:

• End user system support
• Developer system support
• Entire distribution

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Note - The Solaris installation program lets you edit the selection of packages; however, if you do not want the XIL 1.2 runtime environment (RTE), you must explicitly deselect it.

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You should install the XIL 1.2 RTE if users at your site run image-processing applications that were developed with XIL. For example, ImageTool, a DeskSet component, requires the XIL runtime environment.

The XIL 1.2 library includes several new features that were not available in the XIL 1.1 library. For example, it contains a new XilDevice object that can atomically initialize a device's attributes, and a new XilInterpolationTable object that permits vertical and horizontal kernel sampling on source-image pixels. XIL 1.2 applications that take advantage of these and other new XIL 1.2 features will not run in the XIL 1.1 RTE.

The XIL 1.2 RTE supports 1, 8, and 24 bit visuals.

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Note - The XIL 1.2 RTE lets you run XIL applications and is delivered with Solaris software. To develop XIL applications, you need the Solaris Software Developer Kit (SDK), which is a Solaris option that must be purchased separately.

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The XIL 1.2 RTE packages are listed in Table 2-4.

Table 2-4

Package Name	Package Contents	Default Installation Location
SUNWxildg	XIL Loadable Pipeline Libraries	/opt/SUNWits/Graphics-sw/xil
SUNWxiler	XIL English Localization	/opt/SUNWits/Graphics-sw/xil
SUNWxilrt	XIL Runtime Environment	/opt/SUNWits/Graphics-sw/xil
SUNWxilow	XIL Loadable Pipeline Libraries	/usr/openwin/SUNWits/Graphics -sw/xil

SUNWxilrt, SUNWxiler, SUNWxildg, and SUNWxilow make up the XIL runtime environment. SUNWxilrt contains the core XIL library and configuration files. SUNWxildg and SUNWxilow contain the XIL loadable pipelines, and SUNWxiler contains the XIL English language error messages. Applications built with the XIL library require these four packages to be installed; for example, ImageTool cannot run unless all four of these packages are installed.

Solaris PEX 2.2 Runtime Environment

Solaris PEX 2.2 RTE consists of a PEX client-side runtime library (PEXlib) and a PEX server-extension shared-object file (Solaris PEX server). PEXlib is an application programmer interface (API) to PEX protocol as Xlib is to core X protocol. PEXlib provides application portability across hardware platforms and enables 3D graphics rendering on local and remote displays. The OpenWindows Version 3.4 X11 server automatically loads the PEX shared-object extension when incoming PEX requests are sent from a PEX client.

The PEXlib implementation for Solaris 2.4 is based on PEXlib - Specification and C Language Binding: Version 5.1, available from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The PEX server extension is based on PEX Protocol Specification, Version 5.1P.

Solaris PEX 2.2 RTE is included in the Solaris 2.4 release for your convenience and should be installed if you are planning to:

• Run PEXlib-based graphics client applications
• Display any 3D graphics from client applications that perform rendering on remote displays through the PEX protocol

To install PEX, choose the entire distribution software group when installing Solaris 2.4.

Supported Devices and Features

Solaris PEX 2.2 RTE supports all the devices that are supported in XGL 3.1 through Direct Graphics Access (DGA) and Xlib.

Installation Requirements

Solaris PEX 2.2 RTE requires OpenWindows Version 3.4 and XGL 3.1 RTE packages. The PEX RTE packages are installed with the Entire Distribution option in Sun Install. If you want to use Custom Install in either Developer System Support or End User System Support, you need to select SunPEX Runtime Environment explicitly in install the PEX RTE packages.

The Solaris PEX 2.2 RTE packages are listed in Table 2-5.

Table 2-5

Package Name	Package Content	Default Installation Location
SUNWpexcl	PEX Runtime Client Libraries	/usr/openwin
SUNWpexsv	PEX Runtime Server Extension	/usr/openwin

XGL 3.1 Runtime Environment

The Solaris 2.4 release includes the XGL 3.1 runtime environment (RTE). The XGL product is a 2-D and 3-D immediate-mode application programmer interface (API) that provides application portability across hardware platforms and enables graphics applications to get optimal performance from graphics accelerators.

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Note - The XGL 3.1 RTE lets you run XGL applications and is delivered with Solaris software. To develop XGL applications you need the Solaris Software Developer Kit (SDK), a Solaris option that must be purchased separately.

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You should install XGL if users at your site are running a graphics application on a SPARCstation system, since the application may reference the XGL libraries. It is not always obvious whether an application requires the XGL RTE. Therefore, we recommend that you install the XGL RTE if you are installing OpenWindows Version 3.4 software on a color SPARCstation system.

Applications built with the XGL library require these four packages to be installed. The default installation location for these packages is /opt/SUNWits/Graphics-sw/xgl.

The XGL 3.1 RTE packages are listed inTable 2-6.

Table 2-6

Package Name	Package Contents
SUNWxglrt	XGL runtime library and the Roman_M stroke font
SUNWxgler	Localized error message files for SUNWxglrt
SUNWxgldg	Loadable pipeline libraries for generic drivers with specific error message files when applicable. The generic drivers include cg6 (GX, GXplus, TurboGX, and TurboGXplus), cfb (non-accelerated color frame buffers such as cg3 and cg8), mem (memory), xpex (combined Xlib and PEXlib pipelines), swp (software pipeline), and cgm (CGM Stream device). XGL loadable libraries for other devices are included in the packages distributed with each device.
SUNWxglft	XGL stroke fonts

The Solaris 2.4 XGL runtime library, libxgl.so.3, which is shipped as part of the SUNWxglrt package must be used with the Solaris 2.4 versions of the XGL reference pipelines in the SUNWxgldg package. Users cannot use Solaris 2.3 reference pipelines with the Solaris 2.4 version of libxgl.so. If users try to use a Solaris 2.3 or older version of the reference pipelines with the Solaris 2.4 libxgl.so, XGL will fail from within the runtime loader with unresolved external reference errors.

SPARC Supported Devices and Features

Any graphics device supported by Solaris 2.4 is supported by the XGL RTE through Xlib or PEXlib.

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x86 - All x86 display adapters are supported through Xlib rendering.

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The XGL 3.1 RTE provides support via Direct Graphics Access (DGA) for the following SBus graphics devices:

• GX, GXplus, TurboGX, TurboGXplus
• CG3, CG8 (TC)

The XGL 3.1 RTE uses PEX, the 3-D extension to X, whenever possible to render on remote displays. If the display doesn't support PEX, then Xlib is used for rendering. With this release, not all XGL primitives are accelerated through PEX. Those that aren't are rendered via Xlib.

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Note - If a window raster is created on a remote server that supports PEX, but the PEXlib library, libPEX5.so, cannot be found on the local machine, XGL issues an error message and uses Xlib to communicate with the remote window raster. To eliminate the error, either install the PEXlib library or disable PEX on the remote server.

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Installing the XGL RTE and Reference Pipelines

The XGL RTE packages are automatically installed if you select any of the following software groups:

• Entire distribution
• Developer system support
• End user system support

Note that the XGL RTE is included in the End user system support package; it installs automatically when you choose the initial upgrade option.

The XGL packages are not deselected from the list of available software packages so the XGL RTE is installed unless you explicitly deselect it.

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Note - If you installed the XGL libraries at a previous release and follow the normal upgrade procedure to install new packages for the current release, the new versions of the XGL packages are installed correctly. However, if you explicitly delete XGL packages, pkgrm may not remove all the files and directories that were created by other packages or by third party software. If you then add the SUNWxglrt package using pkgadd, the SUNWxglrt package will create a symbolic link on top of the existing directories, and the disk space for these directories will be lost. Therefore, if you want to use pkgrm and pkgadd, be sure to manually remove all remaining XGL files and directories before adding new packages with pkgadd.

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Solaris Security and Accessing Direct Graphic Access (DGA)

There is a security feature in Solaris that governs frame buffer access for processes started by anyone other than the first user of the window system. As a result, non-owners of the window system will not have access to DGA.

For example, if a user starts the window system and then another user sits at the workstation, changes to his own environment using su, and starts an XGL application, the application will not run via DGA even though the second user is running the application locally.

To give all local users access to DGA:

1. Change directory to the file /etc/logindevperm.

2. Change permissions to 0666 in the lines shown below.

3. Reboot.

/dev/console 0666 /dev/mouse; /dev/kbd /dev/console 0666 /dev/sound/* # audio devices /dev/console 0666 /dev/fbs/* # frame buffers

SPARC Direct Xlib 3.1

Direct Xlib 3.1 is the fourth release of the OpenWindows product that transparently enhances graphics-rendering performance for graphics-intensive Xlib applications. Direct Xlib has been updated to utilize the new DGA Drawable Interface exported through libdga. In addition Direct Xlib now supports systems that have more than one frame buffer.

Direct Xlib benefits Xlib applications that are limited by X graphics performance. Performance improvement is dependent upon an application's use and mix of graphics primitives. Programs that are not graphics-intensive may not see a performance gain. The applications that may benefit are:

• Mechanical design
• Electronic design drafting
• Mapping
• Scientific visualization

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Note - Direct Xlib 3.1 is only supported on the Solaris 2.4 and OpenWindows 3.4 platforms.

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Direct Xlib 3.1 software accelerates rendering on the following devices:

• GX
• GXplus
• TurboGXplus
• SX

The Direct Xlib application is installed only if the entire Solaris distribution is installed. For those upgrading from Direct Xlib 2.0 to 3.1, there are some changes that may affect your use of Direct Xlib.

1. The shared-font mechanism utilized by Direct Xlib has changed from Direct Xlib 2.0 to 3.1. If you used the -sharedretainedpath option to the OpenWindows server, then you should remove all files located within the directory specified with -sharedretainedpath before starting the server and using Direct Xlib 3.1.

2. Direct Xlib font-rendering performance has been significantly reduced in Direct Xlib 3.1. Performance for tools that are predominately text rendering may be unsatisfactory. Tools that mix graphics with text should not be dramatically affected.

3. Direct Xlib no longer supplies static versions of its libraries. Applications that use static linking will have to link dynamically to take advantage of Direct Xlib 3.1.

Upgrading from Direct Xlib 3.0 to 3.1

If you explicitly set LD_LIBRARY_PATH in your environment to include the path to the Direct Xlib libraries, you are no longer required to add $OPENWINHOME/server/lib immediately after the path to the Direct Xlib libraries. Any references to this path should be removed since it may not be present in future OpenWindows releases. See the Solaris Direct Xlib 3.1 User's Guide for more information.

ImageTool Enhancements

In Solaris 2.4, ImageTool can display images stored in Eastman Kodak Company's Photo CD format, which enables a computer to display images that were made from photographic negatives. Photo CD images are stored at multiple resolutions; below shows the resolutions ImageTool can display, and the names Kodak has given to those resolutions.

Table 2-7

Resolution	Name
192 x 128	Base/16
384 x 256	Base/4
768 x 512	Base
1536 x 1024	4Base